


Sober Up

by wraithkid



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Betrayal, Break Up, F/M, Foster Care, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Love, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-02 05:16:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13311300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wraithkid/pseuds/wraithkid
Summary: Growing up is full of adventures and lessons to be learned, but some of them are harder than others.





	1. Early Years

**Author's Note:**

> If you've read my other fic, Sai's Recovery List, this is the same AU- if not, that's good too! this is more or less a prequel so there is no need to have read the other.
> 
> Hey, so as the tag implies there is referenced/implied sexual abuse in this-- if this is something that triggers you, please skip from "His foster father, though" to "He found out later on that Iruka had resigned" because while it's not graphic or anything, I also don't want anyone to be triggered.  
> please also let me know if you feel I need to add more tags or warnings, archive is still odd to me

They’d known each other for years—they hadn’t been in the same class the entire time, but they’d been in the same school at the same time. Let’s face it, everyone in their town knew each other—it was an abysmally small town on the outskirts of a slightly bigger but mostly unheard of city. 

Everyone knew that Naruto was the trouble child—it wasn’t necessarily even Naruto’s fault—he only started acting out because he knew people already thought he was a bad kid. He had never known his parents, and no one told him anything about them, but he guessed they must have been pretty awful, the way grown-ups treated him like he was a disease. He tried not to pay attention to any of that, though—as long as his classmates liked him that was enough. He didn’t mind so much that he never stayed with any foster family for long, he understood that was normal for kids in the system—his caseworker had told him so.

Naruto supposed he was pretty lucky; he had a lot of friends to play with at recess, and yeah, maybe they only played during school, but Naruto didn’t mind so much. They were the best friends Naruto could have ever dreamed of, and he sure did dream a lot.

His favorite friend, by and large, was a boy named Sasuke. He wasn’t sure why he liked the boy so much, but he _loved_ playing with Sasuke. He was, in Naruto’s eyes, the coolest, most kind person he’d ever met, even if he was a little shy. Naruto thought he was great, and was impressed that Sasuke’s entire family was made up of Police--- back then, cops were superheroes in Naruto’s eyes.

Naruto was even fond of Sasuke’s brother—he was older than them, but he wasn’t mean and didn’t treat them like nuisances like most of the older kids. He made time to play with them, and taught them the cool things he learned in school and told them stories about their town. They thought Itachi was the coolest person ever—Naruto held Sasuke while he cried the day his brother’s cancer stole his mind. 

After that, Sasuke became different. Shyness turned into a cold quietness, kindness turned into bitter anger. He pushed everyone away—Naruto included. Naruto tried to be as understanding as nine year olds could be—he knew that deep down, Sasuke was hurting far worse than Naruto could ever hurt. He knew that Sasuke was his best friend, and thought he must have been Sasuke’s—after all, he had come to him first.

Naruto tried everything and anything he could think of to get Sasuke’s attention. Picking fights, giving him gifts (usually cool rocks, since Naruto didn’t have much to give, but oh what he wouldn’t have given for Sasuke to even smile again, back then), and one day, in a fit of anger, frustration and maybe a bit of confusion, Naruto gave Sasuke the most valuable thing he knew he had; his first kiss. 

Of course, Naruto had been suspended—not because Sasuke was upset, or because they were both boys, but more because Naruto had burst into the classroom on his way to the bathroom from his own math class and interrupted the lesson. That was the first time Naruto had actually been suspended—generally he was given a verbal slap on the wrists by the principal and then given detention; this time they sent him to a guidance counselor. He’d seen plenty of counselors in his day, but he had mostly just shrugged and told them what they wanted to hear. This counselor was different, though—Naruto felt like he could tell this man what he wanted to, and he wouldn’t just get mad at him like the other adults did. 

If Iruka was confused by Naruto’s feelings, he never mentioned it. He just smiled kindly as he listened and made notes where needed; Naruto excitedly told him about his huge crush on Sakura. When Iruka asked how he felt about Sasuke, Naruto just smiled his biggest smile yet and said he was the sweetest pea in his pod—Iruka had questioned the choice of words, but not the meaning—he had known the answer before he’d asked. 

**

It was during a group project that the trio was brought together—Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura were bound by fate from that day forward. Naruto was able to befriend Sasuke again, becoming as close as ever—he did try to befriend Sakura, but she was suddenly stricken both blind and deaf whenever Sasuke was near. Something in Sasuke’s heart must have told him he needed friendship to make school, and more importantly the time outside the structured schedule of school, more bearable. Slowly, he even warmed up to Sakura, who he’d never really liked (he was off-put by anyone who fawned over his appearances, which was probably why he liked Naruto; Naruto would have thought he was cool even if he was the ugliest person to walk the earth) and the two became his closest and dearest friends.

They were eventually lured into a nature club with a similar set up to boy scouts, but far more lenient on who was allowed in; they were in the same troop and their troop was _great._

Naruto asked Sakura to their farewell dance in eighth grade, but she refused—she was waiting to be asked by _someone_ else. Maybe it was spite that then drove Naruto to ask Sasuke to the dance—he wasn’t sure where or when he decided that was the best course of action. Times were progressing, and he went to a fairly liberal school, so he wasn’t worried about the school saying they couldn’t go—that would be entirely too much of a mess for them. Aside from the potential teasing that Naruto at this point had learned to ignore, he had nothing to worry about—but he certainly hadn’t planned on Sasuke saying yes.

Naruto had been elated, but with excitement came nervousness— he would still have to ask his foster father if he could even go. The thought made his excitement turn to anxiety—he spent the rest of the afternoon after parting ways with Sasuke in the bathroom. Their troop leader, having been concerned when Naruto didn’t show up to their meeting came searching for him—Kakashi found him crying on the bathroom floor hours later. He had sighed, then, and carried Naruto to Iruka’s office, and Iruka called his foster mom to pick him up. Naruto’s foster mom was a kind woman, most of the time, though she sometimes hinted that she didn’t like Naruto very much behind closed doors. Naruto wasn’t really sure what he’d done to make her not like him—he often heard her fighting with his foster dad at night, and wondered if maybe she was just stressed; Iruka had suggested as much. They didn’t have much, and raising a child was hard—surely that had taken a toll on her.

His foster father, though… Naruto had liked him and even looked up to him, at times—but he could be cruel and unpredictable. He was not pleased when Naruto asked him if he could go to the dance, and less so when he said he was going with a boy—his foster mom had seen no issue with it when he asked her before she headed out to work, so Naruto had been in good spirits. Mizuki didn’t yell at him like he often did—something had changed in his demeanor and he struck a bargain with Naruto. If Naruto did exactly what he told him to do, without complaining and swore not to tell anyone, he could go—but only if Naruto never told a single soul.

Naruto hadn’t needed to tell anyone—Iruka immediately noticed the next day that something was wrong, _very_ wrong. It wasn’t the crying that tipped him off—Naruto cried all the time. If anything, that was normal. No—it was the lack of appetite, the hollow look in his eyes—the silence was deafening. Iruka pulled him into his office before classes even began; the cops came, and CPS came, and Naruto remembered a lot of questions and a strange doll. Naruto was assigned to stay with the principal’s family for a while—he made friends with his grandson who was a few years younger, even if Naruto thought he was annoying. The principal urged him to go to the dance still, even bought him a nice shirt for it—he told Naruto that the best thing to do was to pretend his life wasn’t being turned upside down right now. 

Naruto had been able to have fun at the dance, and Sasuke kept his mind off of things for a while as they danced and jumped and yelled and drank punch with their classmates. The following Monday, Naruto spent in a courtroom, Iruka by his side as he watched his foster father led away in handcuffs. After, Iruka took him to a ramen shop and told him things could only go up from there—he let Naruto order whatever he wanted, and for once didn’t ask Naruto any questions.

He found out later on that Iruka had resigned from the school and was now working in a mental health facility with adults—he still kept in touch with Naruto, though, and acted as the big brother Naruto had always dreamed of. He occasionally mentioned that if the laws allowed single parent adoptions, he would have adopted Naruto before he could even spell Ramen. 

Naruto bounced around in foster homes throughout his freshman year of high school. He was used to it—he didn’t mind so much anymore. He’d given up on anyone ever adopting him, like his troop leader had adopted Sasuke; he just wasn’t that kind of kid. 

Imagine, if you will, Naruto’s surprise when a strange old man came out of the woodwork, claiming to be his rightful God Father—Naruto couldn’t believe his ears, and Jiraiya couldn’t believe that no one had contacted him about Naruto—he had been overseas, as often was required of those in the military. Naruto was instantly in awe of this great man—he didn’t necessarily know how to take care of a kid, but Naruto was a fairly self-sufficient fifteen year old at this point. Jiraiya took Naruto anywhere he could dream of, and everywhere he hadn’t ever dreamed he would get the chance to go to, and taught him things Naruto had never considered worth knowing. Naruto wondered why after all these years of wishing on stars, did it take Jiraiya so long to find him?

Jiraiya had his issues, as did any man who spent his entire life invested in wars. He was crass, he drank too much too often, and he spent too much on losing his money and too much time falling for strange women. Naruto didn’t care too much, but at times he felt like maybe Jiraiya needed a parent just as bad as he had. He didn’t mind much; at least Jiraiya was a nice, happy drunk—Naruto had lived with many who weren’t. None were as bad as Mizuki, though.

Through it all, Naruto and Sasuke withheld a strong and stable relationship; it was the most consistent thing in either of their lives so far. Sasuke was in a fairly good place; having been adopted by Kakashi, who was a family friend and married to the local dojo owner—his brother was finally deemed unfit to be his guardian, since he spent most of his days in the hospital, with only minutes of unpredictable clarity as he waited for his cancer to kill him. 

Naruto finally understood what Iruka had meant when he said things would start to look better. 

**

Jiraiya was out of town for the weekend, and had left Naruto, freshly sixteen, with fifty dollars to feed himself and a friend—a ‘friend’ was of course Sasuke, and they were ecstatic to have the house to themselves, as teens _always_ were. Jeriya and Kakashi were both of the same mindset that they were young once, they knew what these kids would be getting into at this age—they would rather they do these things in a safe environment. They had only ever lectured them on the importance of being safe and of course, cleaning up after themselves. In light of that, right on top of the money and note Jiriaya left-- asking Naruto to unload the dishwasher at some point,-- was a box of condoms and a bottle of lube. Naruto had hid them in his nightstand immediately. 

If Sasuke was embarrassed, he certainly hid it well—he simply sat on the couch and turned the TV on while Naruto took care of things. Naruto was red from head to toe when he came back, nervously sitting next to Sasuke and worrying the bottom hem of his T-shirt with his hands.

“What’s gotten into you? Relax, dude,” Sasuke said, raising and eyebrow and grabbing one of Naruto’s hands before he caused his shirt any damage. “It’s not like this is the first time we’ve been alone together.”

Naruto nodded, letting out a deep breath and leaning back into the couch, trying to calm himself. _It could happen tonight,_ he thought, swallowing hard. _What if he thinks I’m gross afterwards?_

“Na-ru-to,” Sasuke said, a teasing tone to his voice as he kissed his cheek. “Relax.”

“S-sorry, I don’t know why I’m so nervous, it’s not like we’re doing anything,” he said, wiping his hands on his pant leg. 

Sasuke laughed, kissing his forehead as he got up to look at the various takeout menus on the fridge. “What do you want to eat? That always helps you calm down,” he said, pulling a few menus off. “You have a coupon for free breadsticks on this one.”

“That’s fine,” Naruto said, nodding. He liked pizza as much as any teenager—he let Sasuke pick the toppings and place the call; Sasuke was good at that kind of thing, Naruto spent ten minutes deciding what to get and then usually made Sasuke call anyways.

“Seriously, Naruto, what’s going on with you?” Sasuke said, voice soft as he hung up with the pizza place. “You don’t have to be so nervous, it’s me.”

Naruto nodded, mouth quivering. Sasuke held his face, gently nudging Naruto’s knees apart so he could stand between them. Naruto felt Sasuke wiping the tears away before he realized he’d begun crying. He buried his face into Sasuke’s stomach, throwing his arms around his waist. 

“Hey, now, it’s okay,” Sasuke said, his voice showing his concern as he gently held Naruto’s head, quietly shh-ing him and massaging him. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Naruto hesitated before nodding into Sasuke’s stomach. 

“Alright, but you have to let me go—that kind of tickles.” 

Naruto grinned, lifting Sasuke’s shirt just enough that he could—Sasuke let out a shrill scream as Naruto successfully blew a raspberry into his stomach, jumping away and pulling his shirt down. Naruto laughed, his tears already drying—nothing made him laugh more than when Sasuke lost his cool demeanor like that. 

“Well I’m glad _you’re_ feeling better, “ Sasuke said, glaring at him. “Now talk—what’s wrong, Naruto?”

Naruto frowned, unsure of how to voice all of his fears at once. He took a deep breath. “You remember how I wasn’t at school the night after farewell?”

“Yeah—you were weird for that whole week,” Sasuke said, nodding. 

“Something… really bad happened to me, and I’m still…” Naruto took a deep breath. “I still have nightmares sometimes. It’s—it’s why Mizuki was arrested.”

A look of sudden realization washed over Sasuke’s face as he sat down next to Naruto. He tentatively rested a hand on Naruto’s shoulder. Naruto smiled softly at him, thankful for the gesture. 

“I… I mean, obviously you know I’ve gone through a lot of therapy, so… I think I’ll be okay,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t think I’ll freak out if we… that’s if you still want to, of course, seeing as I’m…” Naruto frowned. “Dirty.”

Sasuke rested his hand on Naruto’s face, making Naruto look up at him. “Naruto… what that man did to you is not your fault—and you aren’t dirty for it,” he said, never once looking away from Naruto. “I love you no matter what, okay? If you ever need me to stop, or anything, let me know.”

Naruto nodded slowly. He had fully expected Sasuke to be angry with him. After all—if he wasn’t mad that Naruto wasn’t pure, surely he would have been mad that Naruto hadn’t told him, right? It had all made sense in Naruto’s mind.

“Hey—maybe we should use a safe word, in case you ever feel like you can’t handle something,” Sasuke said, nodding. “Something that you would never say in the bedroom.”

“Calico.” Naruto had taken care of a calico cat over the winter before Jiraiya helped him find a home for it. 

Sasuke nodded. “If you ever need me to stop, at any point, no matter what context, just say Calico, and I promise you I will always stop, got it?”

Naruto nodded, and threw himself at Sasuke, crying softly. “I don’t know how I ever got so lucky,” he said into Sasuke’s neck. “You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

Sasuke laughed, trying to wiggle away. “Naruto, that _tickles_ , you know I can’t stand it when you do that,” he said, finally breaking free and wiping the single tear that ran down his face from laughing.

“I like when you laugh, though,” Naruto said, pouting slightly. 

Sasuke regained his composure and gently kissed Naruto, before the doorbell rang and he pulled away. “That’ll be the pizza, then,” he said, quietly.

“Yeah,” Naruto said, equally quiet.

Sasuke stared at him for a second longer before jogging to the door to get the pizza. He set the pizza on the table in front of them and sat back down with Naruto, who pulled the table closer to them so they could put their feet up on it—it was their normal ritual, really. Sasuke flipped channels until he landed on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, settling back into the couch with a slice of pizza and throwing and arm around Naruto when he leaned against him. 

Eventually, as was ritual, Naruto fell asleep on Sasuke’s lap, Sasuke gently playing with his hair as he watched the movie. Eventually Sasuke would start to nod off, and he would gently wake Naruto up so they could go to bed. This time, when he shook Naruto awake, Naruto simply rolled onto his back and motioned for Sasuke to come down to him. Sasuke lifted an eyebrow, but obliged—it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he didn’t mind, really—and let Naruto capture him in a soft, sleepy kiss. He pulled away after a bit, starting to feel the discomfort of their position as Naruto smiled up at him, a dazed look on his face. 

“C’mon… let’s go to bed, yeah?”

Naruto nodded, freeing Sasuke to put away the pizza and letting Sasuke lead him to his own bedroom. Sasuke sat on the bed, pulling Naruto to stand between his open legs and wrapped his legs gently around his hips, placing his hands on Naruto’s chest and looking up at him, almost vulnerable. 

He’d never felt the need to ask before, but for some reason this felt different. “May I?” Naruto asked, running his thumb over Sasuke’s lips. Sasuke nodded, once, eyes never once leaving Naruto’s. Naruto leaned down—he wasn’t used to having to lean down to kiss Sasuke, being that Sasuke was taller—and pressed his lips against his.  
Sasuke carefully reached up and gently ran his hands through Naruto’s hair, pressing himself closer to Naruto. Naruto broke away from Sasuke’s lips, breathing heavily, to kiss along his jaw, gently nibbling at his earlobe before kissing his way down his neck, occasionally nibbling at Sasuke’s neck—Sasuke let out soft gasps and tightened his grip on Naruto, tilting his head away from him so Naruto had better reach. Naruto gently tugged at Sasuke’s shirt, and Sasuke broke away long enough to whip it off—and accidentally elbowed Naruto in the process. 

“S-sorry, Naruto,” he said, through his laughter.

Naruto laughed and shrugged, it hadn’t hurt or anything. He smiled as he traced his thumb over Sasuke’s face, Sasuke’s eyes following him as he breathed softly through his mouth. Naruto had never seen this side of Sasuke—he supposed he wouldn’t have, since when they made out it was usually a different atmosphere completely. Sasuke looked almost like a deer in headlights—but when Naruto asked if he was okay, Sasuke’s only response was a breathy ‘more than okay.’ Sasuke pulled Naruto closer, breathing lightly against his lips, eyes scanning his before closing as he caught Naruto in a kiss, gently sucking at Naruto’s bottom lip here and there, slowly leaning back against the bed, Naruto climbing onto the bed with little prompting, Sasuke’s legs still wrapped around him. 

Sasuke tugged at Naruto’s shirt, and Naruto sat up on his knees and pulled it off, tossing it in a corner before leaning back over Sasuke. Sasuke gently ran his hands across Naruto’s chest, eyes still wide, still with the same breathless manner, as Naruto slowly leaned in to continue to kiss him, gently moving away from his mouth and kissing his neck, gaining momentum as he made his way down—he latched onto a bit of skin on his collarbone, a spot he knew was especially sensitive for Sasuke as his fingers gently trailed down his side, leaving a row of goosebumbs in their wake before eventually making their way back up to play with his nipple—Sasuke let out a soft gasp and Naruto looked up at him, but Sasuke simply guided Naruto to the other one. Naruto gently licked a circle around the nipple, still teasing the other with his hand, before pulling it into his mouth—Sasuke let out a soft squeak, arching up slightly but holding Naruto’s face to his chest all the same. 

Satisfied with the reaction and having switched sides, Naruto left Sasuke’s nipples to the air, watching as Sasuke squirmed lightly and gave him a slightly frustrated look—Naruto smiled and kissed and nipped his way down the center of Sasuke’s abdomen, one hand holding the hand that wasn’t wound in his hair, his other hand slowly sliding up Sasuke’s leg—he paused, looking up at Sasuke, who nodded before Naruto slowly but firmly slid his hand over Sasuke’s crotch and gave a gentle squeeze—Sasuke bucked slightly into his hand. Naruto tugged at the waistline of Sasuke’s jeans, asking silently for permission again—Sasuke breathed out a small yes as he nodded, propping himself up on his elbows as Naruto undid the button and slowly unzipped Sasuke’s jeans, tugging them down his legs with Sasuke’s help. Skinny jeans looked great on Sasuke, but… they got stuck on Sasuke’s ankles. 

They looked at each other and laughed, Naruto falling to the side to let Sasuke free himself as Naruto tugged off his own jeans to even out the playing field. Sasuke glanced over at him, before laying back with a soft sigh and rolling onto his side, tracing circles over Naruto’s bare chest, smiling up at him. Naruto lifted Sasuke’s chin so he could kiss him, Sasuke’s hand falling still and flat against his chest as Naruto rolled him onto his back again, climbing over him. Sasuke instinctively curled his fingers slightly—they dug into Naruto’s chest a little, but Naruto didn’t seem to mind. Sasuke moved his free hand from Naruto’s face where it had wandered and over to his back, gently running his nails down his spine, causing Naruto to buck slightly into him—Sasuke firmly planted his hand on Naruto’s ass and squeezed. Naruto made a small noise against his mouth, before breaking away and turning Sasuke’s face to the side so he could work at that side of his neck—Sasuke continued to let out soft gasps and arched his back as Naruto’s hand moved from his face to trail down to his crotch, trying his best not to buck needfully into his hand. Naruto traced his fingers along the waistband of his boxer briefs, slipping a finger under the elastic and pulling at them, before breaking away from the crook of Sasuke’s neck to look him in the eyes.

“Is this… okay?” Naruto asked, eyes searching Sasuke’s wide ones. 

“ _Please,_ ” Sasuke whispered, nodding. 

“How… are we doing this,” Naruto asked, finger still in the waistband of Sasuke’s underwear. “Are you… how far do you want to go with this?”

Sasuke blinked. He really hadn’t thought about it—well, he had thought about this plenty, but he had never really thought of where he wanted to _stop._ “I… how far do you want to go?”

Naruto frowned a little. “I mean, it’s kind of up to you, too,” he said.

“I… don’t know. I want you,” he said, squirming slightly. He was uncomfortably hard, and Naruto was just… so close… “Surprise me.”

“That’s not—what do you mean, Surprise you? Do you—Sasuke do you know how this works normally?”

“Do you?”

Naruto half shrugged. “I’ve uh, seen some videos.”

Sasuke groaned. “I don’t really care what you do, as long as you do _something_ , and _soon._ ”

Naruto blinked—he let go of the waistband and sat up, running his hand along Sasuke’s thigh. “Sasuke do you want me in your butt tonight or not,” he said, suddenly, staring at the bedside table and then back at Sasuke.

Sasuke blinked back—and threw his head back, groaning. “I don’t care what you do to my butt right now, but you are really driving me nuts,” he said.

“It will probably feel really weird, and it might hurt,” Naruto said, stilling his hand. “I can’t exactly just surprise you.”

Sasuke writhed a little. “Naruto if you think I haven’t shoved anything up my own ass before you are a damn fool, now please will you just do _something?_ ”

Naruto laughed, surprised a little at the response—he tentatively ran his hand over Sasuke’s dick before tugging at the underwear. “If you’re sure… then get the lube and a condom out of the drawer,” he said, using Sasuke’s momentum to aide him in pulling the boxer briefs off, Sasuke succeeding in not only kicking them off without kicking Naruto, but also grabbing the lube and two condoms--- he opened the lube and squeezed it into Naruto’s outstretched hand. Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke’s hipbone, steadying him. Sasuke nodded, still propped on his elbows, as Naruto gently traced the vein on the underside of his dick with his tongue—Sasuke let out a small whimper and fell back—arching into Naruto’s every touch. Feeling slightly more confident at the response, Naruto repeated the action before swirling his tongue around the head, his lubed hand gently slipping underneath Sasuke and he slowly slid a knuckle in—Sasuke gasped and clenched slightly, but quickly relaxed, one hand reaching down to thread in Naruto’s hair as he went back to kissing up the side of Sasuke’s length. Naruto gently worked his finger in, slowly thrusting until he felt the muscles were relaxed enough to add another digit--- this time it went a little more smoothly than before, a good sign that Sasuke was more relaxed--- and grabbed the lube while he occupied Sasuke with his fingers. Sasuke seemed to be enjoying it enough—Naruto supposed he hadn’t been joking about having penetrated himself before—Naruto slowly added another finger, working it in in the same manner as the others. Sasuke gasped slightly, and seemed to buck down onto Naruto’s fingers. Naruto spread them apart slightly, stretching him more before slipping his pinky in for good measure—better to be prepared.

Sasuke seemed like he was being driven crazy, but was steady enough to open the condom when Naruto handed it up to him—he couldn’t get it to open. Sasuke made quick work of it, handing it to him and Naruto rolled it onto his own dick after a few quick strokes—he poured the lube onto himself and stroked to spread it before looking up at Sasuke. 

“ _Please,_ ” Sasuke said, whimpering slightly. “I need it.”

Naruto wasn’t going to argue—he gripped Sasuke’s legs, pushing them towards Sasuke’s chest and gently lined himself up against the entrance. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, for fucks sake, I am sure,” Sasuke growled, head slamming into the pillow. 

Naruto nodded and—oh, he missed. Oops. He let out a small laugh and realigned himself--- well, third times the charm, right? He tried again—yeah, third time’s the charm. Naruto let out a soft moan as Sasuke clenched around him slightly before relaxing, and he loosened his grip on Sasuke’s legs, letting them fall to the side as Sasuke let out small whimpers. “Are you okay?”

Sasuke nodded, whimpering still. Naruto stopped, almost fully in—Sasuke lifted his head to shoot him a small glare. Naruto blinked and pulled out slightly, watching Sasuke’s glare deepen before he thrust back in, Sasuke inhaling sharply and sliding slightly backwards from the movement. Naruto repeated, eliciting more small whimpers from Sasuke and the occasional sharp inhalation. 

Feeling like Sasuke was ready for it, Naruto picked up his pace—he didn’t really have any sort of rhythm going for him, and he slipped out a few times, but Sasuke didn’t seem to mind much, if the quiet moans and his hands gripping the sheets, the air, Naruto’s arm, and even his own hair meant anything. Sasuke gasped suddenly, loudly—his body tensed up and—Naruto felt the pulsing of his body squeezing him and knew he was a goner—his arms gave up and he collapsed overtop of Sasuke, breathing heavily as he slowly slid out, Sasuke hissing quietly as he lowered himself down to the bed and pulling Naruto against him, breathing just as heavily. 

“Sasuke?”

“Yeah?” Sasuke panted.

“I need to take the condom off.”

“Oh.” 

Sasuke released him and Naruto sat up on quivering legs, gently removing the condom and tying it off before tossing it into the trash next to his nightstand. He squinted at Sasuke, and then at himself—Sasuke had pulled him into a mess, is what he’d done. Sasuke smiled sheepishly as he noticed what Naruto was making that face for. Naruto got off the bed, disappearing for a minute and coming back with a damp washcloth for both of them. He had mostly cleaned himself off by the time he got back with them, so he cast his aside and set to work on cleaning Sasuke off—Sasuke just watched him with the same vulnerable look as before. 

Satisfied, Naruto cast that washcloth aside too, climbing over Sasuke and collapsing next to him, grabbing his hand before rolling onto his side to face him. “Are you still okay?”

“Never been better,” Sasuke said, smiling.

“Yeah, we’ll see how you feel in the morning,” Naruto said, raising an eyebrow. “Do you want to shower? We should probably shower.”

Sasuke blinked. “Together?”

“I was literally in your ass.”

Sasuke nodded. He was aware. 

“Why would we… not shower together?”

Sasuke reluctantly agreed—Naruto helped him to the shower whether he liked it or not. Sasuke’s one true desire at the moment was just sleeping curled up with Naruto, but Naruto was insistent that he’d thank him later.  
Naruto wasn’t wrong.

**

Sasuke dropped his spoon in his cereal suddenly, looking up at Naruto. 

Naruto raised any eyebrow—Sasuke was staring at him like he’d seen a ghost.

“I… never even asked if you were okay,” Sasuke said, holding his face in his hands. “How could I have just not—I’m the worst.”

“Hey—what? What are you talking about?”

“Last night—I didn’t even ask if you were okay after,” Sasuke said. 

“I didn’t cry,” Naruto said, frowning. “So why would you have asked?”

Sasuke stared at him like he was an idiot. Ah, there was the Sasuke he knew and loved. “Do you remember what you told me earlier yesterday?”

Naruto squinted, scratching his head. “I think I told you I watched some videos,” he said, crossing his arms and nodded. “Yeah, definitely remember that.”

Sasuke sighed into his cereal bowl. “You are an idiot,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re okay, though, right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Naruto we had sex,” Sasuke said. 

“Yeah? I was definitely there. You were hot as hell.”

Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh. “My ass hurts, and you’re a pain in my figurative ass too,” he said, shifting in his chair. 

“I told you,” Naruto said, frowning. “I asked if you were sure.”

Sasuke smiled. “It was worth it,” he said, reaching across the table to hold Naruto’s hand. He sighed again, hanging his head. “They’re totally going to know we did it.”

Naruto shrugged. “It’s not like they’ll be mad or anything,” he said, frowning. “Unless… you’re embarrassed to be with me.”

Sasuke shook his head vigorously. “You know I’m not, Naruto—I never could be.”


	2. Juniors

“Na-ru-to,” Sasuke sang his name, wobbling over to throw his arms around his head, roughly kissing his cheek and almost spilling his drink. “I love you man,” he said, swaying.

“Sasuke, maybe you should slow down,” Sakura said, frowning. “You’ve had a lot to drink.”

“’S fine, Sakura,” Sasuke slurred, giving a thumbs up.

Naruto cringed. “C’mon buddy, we let’s get you to the bathroom,” he said, having seen this before. 

They made it just in time—Naruto held Sasuke’s hair out of his face as he expelled his drinks. Then Sasuke fell backwards, accepting the toilet paper Naruto offered and wiping his face before blowing his nose. 

“Are you good now?” Naruto said, crouching next to him and gently squeezing his shoulder. Sasuke nodded, wiping away tears. Naruto helped him up, made him wash his face and rinse his mouth, and escorted him to a couch, where Sasuke clung to him, shaking. “Do you want to go home?” Naruto asked. They’d only been at the party for a few hours—it was just barely past midnight. 

“I don’t want to ruin your fun, Naruto,” Sasuke said, frowning. He was starting to sober up—Sakura handed him a small cup of soda to settle his stomach and wash the taste out of his throat and sat next to him, rubbing his shoulder. “You guys can go have fun, I can just sit here.”

Naruto frowned. “I’m not going to just leave you here, Sasuke,” he said, frowning. “And I doubt Sakura would, either.”

Sakura shook her head. “You guys are my ride—besides, this party kind of sucks anyways. There’s no cute guys here, everyone’s kinda old.”

Naruto nodded. “You wanna go home?” Sakura nodded, and Sasuke did too. 

“Alright, let me go say bye to Kabuto,” he said, standing up and disappearing for a few minutes. He came back and gathered Sasuke and Sakura, Sasuke still clinging to him, slightly less shaky now.

**

 

Sasuke had been drinking again. Naruto didn’t think much of it—Sasuke was mourning; as much damage as Itachi had wrecked over the years, he was still his brother. He had only been 21—if he had lived, Itachi would have been the one buying Sasuke’s alcohol and taking them to parties, not Kabuto. Naruto knew Sasuke clung to his childhood memories of Itachi before the cancer started to affect his brain. 

Jiraiya was gone again. He was leaving more and more lately—apparently he was getting ready to go on tour for book signings. Naruto didn’t really want anything to do with the kinds of books Jiraiya wrote. He just wished he would come home and spend time with him like he used to. 

“Hmm, Naruto, have you applied to any colleges yet?” Sasuke asked, suddenly climbing on top of Naruto, who was trying to watch TV. 

“You know I haven’t,” he said, trying to look around Sasuke. “What are you doing, dude?”

Sasuke smiled and wrapped his arms around his neck, leaning backwards off the couch. Naruto frowned, steadying Sasuke by placing his hands around his waist. Sasuke swung back up, frowning. “Can we have sex?”

Naruto blinked. “No, you’re drunk,” he said, pushing Sasuke off of him. 

“But I’m asking you,” Sasuke said, grabbing Naruto’s hand as he got up. 

“I don’t care, you’re still drunk and I’m not having sex with you when you’re like this, so don’t ask me again until you’re sober,” he said, shaking his hand free. He didn’t know why Sasuke was always like this—why couldn’t he just go to sleep like everyone else did when they drank. 

Sasuke was following him into the bathroom—Naruto gently pushed him back out, closing and locking the door. He wanted some privacy—sometimes he couldn’t handle drunk Sasuke’s antics. 

He started up the bathtub faucet, dunking his head under, the warm water rushing over his head always soothed him. His knees started to ache from the tile underneath the bathmat, so he shut the faucet off and grabbed a towel, doing his best not to drip everywhere. 

He opened the door and Sasuke fell into him, crying. “Please don’t leave me again, I’m sorry, I won’t ask you, just don’t leave me,” he said through sobs. Naruto sighed—they had reached this stage already. 

“Hey now, come on,” Naruto said, frowning as he helped Sasuke stand on his own. “Why don’t we go get some sleep, huh?” 

Sasuke nodded miserably, following Naruto to his bedroom. 

“Alright, pants and shirt off, get in bed,” Naruto said, taking his own off. Sasuke stood there, staring. “Do you… need help?” 

Sasuke stared at him a minute longer before nodding. 

“You aren’t even that… whatever, come here,” Naruto said, helping Sasuke take his shirt off. 

Sasuke smiled, latching onto Naruto and nuzzling him clumsily. “You’re my favorite,” he said, a little to close to Naruto’s ear for his volume level. “I wanna marry you.”

Naruto patted him on the shoulder. “That’s great, Sasuke,” he said. “We can plan the wedding when you’re sober. Take your pants off and get in the bed.”

“But I love you,” Sasuke said, still clinging to Naruto as Naruto tried to gently pry himself free. “Don’t you love me back?” The tears were back.

“Yes, I love you too, now will you _please_ stop it,” he said, finally wiggling out of Sasuke’s hold long enough to duck down and drag Sasuke’s pants down to his ankles. Sasuke stepped out of them, and latched back onto Naruto as soon as he stood. Naruto sighed, hugging him back for a second before slowly sidling up to the bed and shoving Sasuke onto it. 

Sasuke looked up at him, eyes wide, and broke out in a grin.

“Oh no, no you don’t, don’t get any ideas,” Naruto said, pointing a finger at him. “You get under those blankets and you don’t even think about that.”

Sasuke scowled at him, but did what he was told—a rarity for Sasuke, really. Within minutes, Sasuke was asleep on his side. Naruto shook his head, frustrated, and shut the light off, closing the door and going back to his show—he wasn’t tired yet, and he didn’t really want to deal with Sasuke right now anyways.

Naruto wasn’t sure when Sasuke had become such a habitual drinker—it was starting to worry him, but he wasn’t really sure how to approach it; Sasuke would just say he was fine, but what about Kakashi? Would he be angry to find out that Sasuke had been having someone supply him alcohol behind his back? It wasn’t that Kakashi was against alcohol, per say, but he was against them keeping things from him. 

Naruto glanced at the clock. It was approaching one in the morning—he supposed he should check on Sasuke to make sure he hadn’t rolled onto his back and choked to death. Sighing, he wandered back into his room, climbing onto the bed. Sasuke had rolled over so he was on his opposite side, but otherwise seemed to be enjoying his slumber. Naruto sat down next to him, pulling his knees to his chest as he gently ran his hand through Sasuke’s hair, sweeping it away from his face. 

Sasuke’s eyes were still puffy from crying, and he had dark circles that were visible even in the dim setting of Naruto’s room, but he looked like Sasuke and that for some reason surprised Naruto—he wasn’t sure what he had expected; who else would he have looked like? Frowning, Naruto let himself under the covers, laying on his side facing Sasuke, taking comfort in the sound of his even breathing. 

“I hope you’re okay,” he whispered, touching his forehead to Sasuke’s as he threw an arm around him—Sasuke smiled in his sleep and drew a little closer. “I need you to be okay.” 

**

 

“God, can you do anything right? Jesus, and they want you to go to medical school?”

Naruto wasn’t sure what he was hearing right now, but it was pissing him off—he whipped his head around the room, looking for the source. It was after school, and a lot of kids had stuck around to finish homework and wait out the rain. His eyes locked on the person—Naruto _knew_ him, but not well—the only time he’d spoken to him, he had been saying something equally mean.

“You’re so worthless—you should just stay home, just drop out,” he was saying now, and had even begun pushing the girl—Naruto recognized her from elementary school.

“Hey, are you just gonna sit there and take that?” Naruto yelled, rolling up his sleeves as he walked over. The girl seemed to shrink into herself, looking away. Apparently so—Naruto had no problem with sticking up for people. 

“Naruto, what are you doing? This isn’t your fight,” Sasuke called after him.

It was too late—Naruto had already swung, hitting the boy square in the nose, and he didn’t bother letting him stumble and recover; Naruto wrapped his hands around his neck and kneed him as hard as he could. He spat on the boy for good measure—he could hear Sasuke sighing in the distance. He didn’t care. “Don’t you _ever_ talk to her that way again,” he said, nodding as the security guard came rushing over. “What’s your name?”

“You don’t even know his name?” The security guard was dumbfounded that Naruto hadn’t known him. She shook her head. “Anyways—you four, office, now,” she said, pointing at Naruto, his victim, the girl and Sasuke, who just had bad enough luck to be associated with Naruto. 

For some reason, the security guard left the four of them in the room alone—Sasuke made a few comments under his breath about how little sense that made, but then just slumped in a chair next to the girl.

“I think it’s broken,” the boy said, blood starting to dry on his face.

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Let me look at it,” he said, really giving the boy no choice by batting away his hands, and eventually getting frustrated with the boy trying to lean away, decided to just straddle him in the chair. “Okay, don’t bite your tongue off,” Naruto said, gruffly, before wrestling a very alarmed boy’s face for a minute and then hopping off, looking like he was admiring his work as he nodded.

“What the fuck did you just do,” the boy said. “I’m going to need surgery for sure.”

“Oh what ever, your nose is just fine, you’re _welcome_.”

“Naruto, I don’t think it counts if you broke it in the first place,” Sasuke said, sighing. “Neji, are you alright?”

“You knew who this was the whole time?”

Sasuke frowned at Naruto. “Of course I did—Neji is Lee's friend. Hinata is his cousin.”

Naruto frowned at Sasuke before turning back to Neji. “What the fuck, she’s your cousin and you’re treating her that way? I should have left your nose crooked.”

“N-Naruto please sit down,” Hinata said quietly. 

“And you! Why do you let him get away with this? Stand up to him, kick him in the fucking nuts!”

Hinata cowered, shaking her head as her face slowly started turning red. 

“She’s a coward, there’s no helping that,” Neji said, shrugging. “Can’t change spineless wimps.”

“What the fuck did you just say?” Naruto said, grabbing Neji by the collar again, fist raised. 

“Naruto, seriously, you are going to get us all expelled,” Sasuke said, leaping up and wrestling his boyfriend off of Neji. “Go sit over there, and don’t even look at him, I know how you are.”

Naruto growled, but obeyed, if only because he knew Sasuke was right. 

Sasuke shook his head, going back to his seat. 

The security guard came back with the principal, who just glared at Naruto and Neji and gave them both suspensions—Neji took his punishment surprisingly well. Naruto had no complaints, and had expected worse; this wasn’t his first offence, after all. Sasuke and Hinata were simply let off with a warning not to get involved next time. 

Naruto spent the rest of the school year squinting angrily at Neji whenever he saw him—Neji simply stared back at him with a concerned look on his face. He didn’t ever see him being mean to Hinata, though, and the two actually seemed to be getting along quite well; Sakura expressed her surprise a few times.

“Hmm, he’s always been kind of a dick,” Kiba said, one lunch period. “Real stuck up, but I guess Naruto kind of beat that out of him, or something. He’s been nice to Hinata, especially after finding out--- oh. Sorry that’s secret, never mind.”

Sakura snorted. “It’s hardly secret, except to Mr. Oblivious over there,” she said, glancing in Naruto’s direction and gagging slightly when she saw Sasuke casually dumping all of the condiments onto Naruto’s food, while Lee rooted Naruto on—there was five dollars in Shikamaru’s sleeping hand—he was obviously taking the bets, but not involved. 

“That smells disgusting,” Kiba said, grimacing. “I don’t know how he hasn’t puked yet.”

“Naruto’s his own brand of idiot,” Sakura said, shaking her head. “Sasuke, why are you encouraging him?”

Sasuke shrugged, tearing open a packet of ketchup and squeezing it into the frighteningly brown concoction that Naruto was shoveling into his mouth. 

“I hate men,” Sakura sighed.

“These aren’t men, Sakura. These are boys,” Ino said, sighing as well. 

“Yes!! Five dollars is mine for the taking!” Naruto shouted, plucking the money out of Shikamaru’s hand. “Hey, Sakura, you wanna get ice cream with me?”

“Naruto, I’m right here, you can’t ask her on dates in front of me,” Sasuke said, frowning.

“I’m not—“

“It’s okay, Sasuke, I would never agree anyways,” she said, watching Naruto deflate back into his chair. 

**

 

“Sakura is truly the most beautiful girl to ever walk the earth,” Lee said, nodding. 

“I don’t know—you haven’t seen that many girls, Lee,” Tenten said, looking away from her magazine. 

“No, trust me, he’s right,” Naruto said, nodding. “Hey, don’t smack me, we said girl.”

Sasuke just glared at him from the corner of his eyes, taking a swig of his beer. They were all piled into Sasuke’s bedroom, which he shared with Lee, who was more or less like his unofficial step brother; Guy hadn’t really adopted Lee, but Lee never went home, and was there before Sasuke moved in. Lee had been ecstatic to have someone to share a room with; Sasuke… was slightly less enthusiastic. Kakashi had conveniently never mentioned Lee. 

Tenten was one of Lee’s best friends, and had grown up taking lessons at the Dojo, too, so she was a common occurrence. Naruto slowly came to the realization that he had known Neji far longer than he’d originally thought—Neji was best friends with Tenten and Lee and had also trained under Guy; apparently his thoughts about how useless women are were reserved for anyone except Tenten, who would mop the floors with his dead body if he ever even hinted at such things. 

Naruto almost felt bad for having punched Neji so hard, but almost feeling bad was not the same as actually feeling bad. 

“Do you think she’ll ever notice me?”

“Not if you look like that,” Tenten said, without looking up. 

“What does that mean?”

Tenten sighed, rolling onto her stomach and setting aside her magazine. “Listen, Lee—girls our age have certain… standards,” she said. “Sakura’s standard has been set _really_ high; her standard is way up here, and you’re barely off the ground.” Tenten had raised up to her knees to demonstrate, and sat back on her heels now. “Maybe if you… I don’t know, maybe if you got your eyebrows shaped and stepped out of 90s fashion, she might look at you as more than a friend.”

Lee nodded. “Thank you for your advice, Tenten,” he said, grabbing her hands as he dropped to his knees. “You are a most valuable companion.” 

“Uh… right,” she said, making a face. “Can you let go now? I want to get back to my magazine.”

Guy burst in the room, shielding his eyes. “Is everyone decent? Dinner is ready, but you kids take your time in here,” he said, blindly trying to find the door.

“What do you think we’re doing in here, Guy?” Tenten asked, groaning. “You can uncover your eyes, we’re all decent. Nothing is going on.” 

Guy was shocked, apparently, when he uncovered his eyes to three teenagers on the floor, confused and nowhere near each other, and Lee, directly in front of him, covering his eyes and blindly stumbling around searching for the door. Guy let out a hardy laugh, clapping Lee on the back as Lee found the door. 

“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be something weird,” Sasuke muttered, standing up and offering his hand to Naruto. 

Naruto, though, took Guy’s cooking as a chance for personal growth; for some reason beyond Sasuke’s comprehension, Naruto thought that Guy and Lee were true role models. Sasuke didn’t really want to know _why_ Naruto looked up to them so much, though. 

Kakashi peered at them all from above his book, a bowl of food steaming next to him on the table that was half gone—Naruto tried his best to see behind the book, but Sasuke smacked him; there was no way he was going to let Naruto see what Kakashi’s face looked like before he saw it. 

They’d never really questioned the face that Kakashi wore a medical mask all the time until recently--- they’d always questioned him about his missing eye, but it had never dawned on them until their later years that they’d never seen most of his face. 

They had tried asking Guy about it, but Guy had just nodded when they asked what was under there—they were married though, so obviously Guy had to know, right? 

“Can… I help you kids?” Kakashi said, eye sliding over to the small huddle they’d formed on the same side of the table across from him. He had commandeered two chairs; one for sitting and one for his leg, and Guy was in the next—no one wanted to sit next to Guy when he ate, though, even Rock Lee sat across from him. Sitting next to Guy while you ate meant you fought Guy for your plate.

Not the food—just the plate. 

“Um, no, we were just, um,” Naruto stopped for a minute. “Admiring your hair today, is all, um, it’s laying really nicely today.”

Sasuke elbowed him in the ribs, Tenten high fived him under the table. 

Kakashi blinked slowly at them before turning his attention back to his book, picking up his spoon. The four all braced themselves, leaning this way and that, trying to see what would happen. 

Guy yelled suddenly, slamming his fist on the table. “Lee! How about a nice run after dinner!”

Lee stood up, slamming his fists on the table as well. “Sounds excellent, Guy! We must ensure that we wait an appropriate 30 minutes, first!”

Guy nodded enthusiastically. “That’s right, can’t have you kids getting cramps, good call, Lee,” he said, giving him a thumbs up. 

“Thank you, sir!” Lee said, giving a thumbs up back and sitting back down.

They all returned their attention to Kakashi, only to find that he had finished his entire bowl of food during their distraction—they had all been too annoyed with Lee signing them up for a family after dinner run to notice that Kakashi had eaten at all.

Sasuke, Naruto and Tenten all squinted angrily at Lee, who was happily eating his food next to them, unaware. 

 

Naruto was at the Dojo, tired of being home alone after Jiraiya had been gone for a full two weeks. Sasuke had left about an hour ago with Kakashi, but he had been told he wasn’t invited. Naruto wouldn’t admit that it hurt his feelings when Sasuke brushed him off like that, but he tried to understand that Sasuke and Kakashi needed to spend time together without him there. 

He was plenty content to just hang out with Lee, anyways—they were best friends, too. He even liked Tenten, who was generally a little better at talking Lee and Guy down from their absurd challenges than Naruto, who just found himself unwittingly involved. 

Neji, however—he wasn’t really sure when they had become friends, being that three months ago he had broken his nose. At some point, they must have decided subconsciously to set their differences aside; Neji seemed to have realized he was acting like a prick and had seemed to mellow out a bit, to everyone’s relief. It was the first time most of them had even seen Neji smile or joke since his father passed in his freshman year. Naruto didn’t really know the specifics of it, being that he really didn’t know Neji that well, but apparently during his time on suspension, he had moved out of his mother’s home and in with Hinata’s family. 

The issue Naruto had now, was that he had realized that Neji was _beautiful._ He had too angry to realize it before, but he found himself staring at Neji constantly; Neji would sometimes notice and just make a face at him until he looked away. Naruto knew Neji was gay—the entire school knew, really, being that he was the customary Theatre Gay with Tenten as the Theatre Lesbian—but Naruto was conflicted because he loved Sasuke, but he had a crush on Neji, too.

He didn’t want to break up with Sasuke, but he wanted to kiss Neji, too—he had this problem with Sakura, but Sasuke mostly passed it off as a long-running joke; something gave Naruto a feeling that Sasuke wouldn’t feel the same about him having a crush on Neji. He frowned, eyes scanning over Neji’s delicate features before deciding it probably didn’t matter, anyways. He couldn’t possibly be Neji’s type. 

Naruto didn’t really see Neji show interest in anyone though, so he supposed that Neji probably had extremely high standards or something—he really seemed to stick to Tenten and Lee exclusively as far as friendships went.

“So, Naruto, what about you?”

Naruto blinked, and squinted, pointing at himself. “What about me?”

“Have you ever kissed a girl, Naruto?” Neji asked, repeating the question for him. 

Naruto frowned. “Not… really, why?”

Neji shrugged, as did the rest of them. “We were just talking about how it’s weird that I’ve probably kissed more girls than a guy who’s into girls,” he said. “Like Lee has only kissed Tenten when they were younger on a dare, and you’ve never kissed a girl, neither have Sasuke or Kiba.” 

Naruto frowned. “Have you kissed any men, though, Neji?”

Neji blinked, locking eyes with Tenten for a second. “I kissed Lee during the same party as Tenten and Lee kissed,” he said. “Aside from that, I’ve only kissed girls.”

“You’ve… only kissed girls and Lee?”

Neji shrugged, glancing back at Naruto. “Most of the girls I kissed were dares, or for a play.”

“Aren’t you supposed to just fake it?”

“You can—it’s all up to what people are comfortable with,” Tenten said, shrugging. “I mean, Neji is my best friend and as gay as I am, so I don’t really mind kissing him as a friend whenever, but if you asked me to kiss like… I don’t know, you or Sasuke, I wouldn’t really be comfortable with that.” 

Naruto nodded. “I think it’s dumb that people aren’t allowed to kiss their friends,” he said, nodding. “If Sasuke wouldn’t murder me, I’d kiss all my friends.”

A large grin spread across Lee’s face as Neji began furiously shaking his head and gesturing for him to stop.

“Well if you and Sasuke ever break up, I know Neji will gladly kiss you,” Tenten said, grinning evilly as Neji froze, a look of pure betrayal on his face as Lee cackled just as evilly.

Naruto blinked. “Well, I don’t think that will ever happen, so I don’t think I’ll ever be allowed to kiss my friends,” he said, shrugging. 

“Ooo, spill, are you two going to get married?” Tenten asked, laying down on her stomach, propping her chin on her hands as if she was ready for a story.

Naruto shrugged. “He only really brings it up after we do it or when he’s drunk,” he said, frowning now that he thought about it. “But we’re also in high school, so there’s really no point in asking yet.”

“Yeah, but you’re almost done with your junior year,” she said. “I know you’ll both only be 17 when you graduate, but if Kakashi and Jiraiya said so, you could probably get married right after that.”

He frowned. He hadn’t really thought of that—he hadn’t really ever talked to Sasuke seriously about their future anyways. “I mean, we still don’t know what we’re going to do for college, though, either—I don’t know if I’ll go.”

“Naruto, if you didn’t sleep through your classes, you could probably get into a good college,” Neji said, frowning. 

“I just hate school,” he said. “I hate that we only learn what’s in a book so that we can pass a test.”

They all nodded. “Lee has always struggled with his grades because he doesn’t do well with tests,” Tenten added. “And it’s hard for him to sit still in class, it’s just not his learning style. Everyone has their thing, you know?”

Naruto nodded. “Sasuke doesn’t even study, he just gets good grades naturally,” he said. “Sakura has better grades than him, but that’s because her entire life is just studying so she can get a scholarship for school.”

“Man, I don’t think I’ve gotten anything higher than a B+ since middle school,” Tenten said, rolling onto her back. “I’m just not that smart, I guess.”

“You’re plenty smart, Tenten,” Neji said, frowning. “You can do a ton of things that people like Sakura can’t, like—Naruto, can Sakura use power tools?”

Naruto shook his head. “I don’t think so. She always made us do it,” he said. “She couldn’t even turn on a screwdriver.”

“See? Just because you’re not book smart doesn’t mean you aren’t smart,” Neji said, shaking Tenten’s shoulder gently. “I’ve seen you design and build entire sets, and you fixed my mom’s sink, and you did Naruto’s brakes last month, too.”

Tenten frowned as Naruto and Lee agreed that she was plenty smart. “Plus, how many girls our age can name every kind of knife or all the parts of a gun, _and_ teach you how to use it?” Naruto said. “You’re 17 and you teach a self defense course by yourself, obviously you’re really smart.”

Tenten sighed. “Yeah, but you ask me to write an essay and it’ll take me a week and I _still_ won’t get a good grade on it.”

“That’s what you have me for, darling,” Neji said, laughing. “You fix my sink, I fix your essays, we all live happily ever after.”

“We’d live happily ever after if you didn’t clog the drains with your hair,” Tenten said, glaring. 

“It wasn’t _my_ hair.”

“Uh-huh, sure it wasn’t,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

**

 

“Kiba, are you going to prom with anyone?”

Kiba blinked. “Oh yeah… hey Hinata, do you want to go to prom?”

Hinata blinked, about to take a bite out of her sandwich. She stopped and smiled at him. “Sure, Kiba,” she said. “Is Shino going too?”

“Oh… uh, well I,” Kiba laughed nervously, glancing over at Shino.

Shino was brooding next to him. “No, don’t worry about me, you two have fun, I would just drag your moods down,” he said, voice and face equally blank. 

Kiba grinned, clapping him on the back. “I knew you wouldn’t want to go, you hate dances,” he said. “So what color should we wear, Hinata?”

Hinata frowned, glancing at Shino and then seemed to get over it. “I’m not sure—what color are you wearing, Tenten?”

Tenten blinked, and looked at Neji. “What did you decide we were doing?”

“White with crimson,” he said, frowning at her. “You did get your dress already, right?”

Tenten laughed nervously. “Um, anyways, Hinata, I think you and Kiba would look good in a nice soft lavender,” she said, refusing to look back at Neji, who was staring holes into her. “I’ll help you find one, if you want to go after school?”

“T-That would be great,” Hinata said, nodding her head and smiling. 

“Aw, you’re so cute, Hinata,” Tenten said, pinching Hinata’s cheek. “Remember what I taught you, okay? If Kiba tries to touch you and you don’t want him to, you whip out those sick moves, got it.”

Hinata blinked, and smiled. “Don’t worry, Tenten, Kiba would never do something like that,” she said. “Right, Kiba?”

“R-Right,” Kiba said, suddenly drawn back into the conversation, confused. He had been having a thumb war with Naruto while Shino stood as referee. “Anyways, why do you ask, Naruto?”

Naruto sighed. “I need to ask Sasuke if he wants to go, but I’m pretty sure he won’t,” he said, moving his food around on his plate. Sasuke was home sick from school, and everyone could tell Naruto felt lost without him there. “He’s been in this whole phase of ‘I hate dances, they’re so dumb,’ even though he’s always liked them before.”

“Hey, Ino, don’t you still need a date?” Shikamaru asked, suddenly awake.

“Shut up, Shikamaru,” she said, growling. “It’s not that no one’s asked me, it’s just—“

“That no one’s asked you,” Shikamaru finished, rolling his eyes. “Maybe if you didn’t make such a big deal about it and just asked someone, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Well, I don’t see you going with anyone,” she said, puffing her cheeks out.

“Well, I was going to _offer_ to take you, but now I’m not,” he said, shrugging. “Guess you’ll have to take her, Chouji.” 

Chouji looked up from his food and squinted. “Where are we going?”

“The mall, to get a tux for prom, Chouji,” Shikamaru said.

“Ino’s wearing a tux to prom?”

“No, Chouji, you are.”

“I’m going to prom?”

“Yes, you’re going to prom with Ino,” Shikamaru said, sighing. “I don’t know why I bother, I should just let you suffer, Ino.”

Ino was getting ready to strangle him--- he shrunk his head to his shoulders like a turtle and hissed at her like one, too. 

“Leave me alone, woman, I just got you a date to prom,” he said, still dodging her grappling hands. 

“Yeah, with _Chouji._ ”

“What’s wrong with that?” Chouji asked, frowning.

Ino sat back down, frowning. “Nothing—but you’re basically my brother. It’d be the same as if I went with Shikamaru,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s just not the same as having an actual date to prom.”

“It’s actually more fun just to go with friends,” Tenten said, shrugging. “That’s why I’m going with Neji, instead of asking a cute girl like Hinata.”

“I’m your friend, though, Tenten,” Hinata said, frowning. 

Tenten laughed nervously. “I mean, yeah, you’re my friend too,” she said, patting Hinata on the head. “But Neji is like, my best friend, you know. It’s like you and Kiba and Shino are best friends.”

“Oh, okay,” Hinata said, smiling. “I’m glad Neji has a good friend like you, Tenten.”

Tenten sighed, hugging Hinata’s head to her chest. “Neji, your cousin is too good for this world. I’m keeping her.”

Neji shrugged—he didn’t seem to mind. “Naruto, if Sasuke doesn’t go, why don’t you just go with your friends? Lee will probably go in on a couple’s ticket with you, if you want to go.”

“Yeah, Lee would love to go with you!” Tenten said, grinning. “Especially since Sakura isn’t going to prom.”

“I have to study,” Sakura said. “It’s my junior prom, anyways.”

“You can take a night off, Sakura,” Ino said, frowning. “You’re gonna die from stress before you even get to college if you keep this up.”

“I’m fine, Ino,” she said, shaking her head. 

Ino sighed, frowning. “Anyways, Naruto, why don’t you just ask him now? He’s probably awake, right?”

Naruto shrugged. “I don’t want to ask him over text,” he said. “I’m going over to see him anyways tonight.”

“What does he even have?”

“Oh… you know he gets migraines and stuff,” he said, shrugging. “They ran some tests and it’s not like… it’s not a tumor or anything, so it’s probably just stress or something.”

“Maybe he just needs to stop drinking,” Sakura said, sharply. “I don’t know why Kakashi hasn’t done anything about him.”

Naruto frowned. “It’s none of your business, Sakura.”

Sakura shook her head, still not looking up from her work. “No, of course not,” she said. “Never is, is it?”

Naruto bit his tongue. He knew it wasn’t worth arguing with her when she was like this—he’d experienced the consequences many times. He looked away from her, sighing. “What if he doesn’t want me to go with someone else?”

“Well, he either sucks it up and goes with you, or he sucks it up and lets you go with someone else,” Kiba said, frowning. “And if he gets mad at you for wanting to have fun with your friends, you leave that piece of crap.”

“Don’t call him that, Kiba,” Ino scolded. 

Kiba tsked as he leaned back in his chair. “I don’t have to like him if he mistreats my friend,” he said. “Sasuke is only my friend because he’s with Naruto.”

“He’s not that bad, is he Naruto?” Ino asked, frowning. 

Naruto blinked, unsure of what was happening. “Sasuke doesn’t mistreat me,” he said, confused. “He’s always been good to me.”

Kiba tsked again, looking away and muttering to Shino. Shino simply nodded in return. 

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Naruto,” Tenten said, frowning. “Even if he’s apprehensive at first, Sasuke will come around once he sees how much it means to you.”

Naruto nodded. “Thanks, Tenten. I’m sure you’re right.”

**

**Author's Note:**

> u know back in the day when i started getting into the world of ff. net we called these lemons, and man it's hard for me to not refer to them as that now;;;
> 
> i heard the song Sober Up by AJR on the radio and it's pretty much what inspired me to actually write this l o l


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